Ebay/”Blood Feud” alert and other musings from a chain hotel in Phoenix

Greetings from a cradle of American retail development gone wild, the Bell Rd. area of Phoenix/Glendale. Just about every store/restaurant/fitness/hotel chain you could ever name is within a Tom Brady throw from where I write.
In town here for tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve matchup between YOUR Colorado Avalanche and Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena. That venue name just gives you tingles, doesn’t it? Just like the Fabulous Forum or the Gahden (Boston, of course) or Churchill Downs, you just feel the power of history when you say you’re going to Jobing.com Arena.
Before I get to a few random hockey/Avalanche musings, I want to give fair warning to any fan out there who might want to bid soon on what I feel will be a very unique item of hockey memoribilia. And, yes, it gives me a joint opportunity to gratuitously plug my book “Blood Feud”, about the Avs-Red Wings rivalry.

Very soon I’ll be putting up for auction – either on Ebay or NHL.com – a signed copy of my book. But not just any signed copy. Oh no; A copy signed by the vast majority of the great players who made up what was the best rivalry in pro sports of its era. The money from the highest bid, I will then take and donate it to Hockey Fights Cancer. So, you’ll also be donating to a great cause AND get a helluva piece of memoribilia.
A quick run off the top of my head of some of the players and coaches who I’ve gotten to sign the book so far are: Scotty Bowman, Marc Crawford, Peter Forsberg, Steve Yzerman, Joe Sakic, Chris Drury, Milan Hejduk, Brendan Shanahan, Sergei Fedorov, Darren McCarty, Larry Murphy, Kris Draper, Chris Osgood, Bob Hartley, Rob Blake, Alex Tanguay, Martin Lapointe and probably at least a dozen more players and others, including a few media people from the cities (hope that doesn’t downgrade the value).

So, stay tuned. I’m working on a few more signatures before I put it up for bid.

As for one man’s thoughts on the Avs and around the league:
– It’s no coincidence, I dont’ believe, that the Avs haven’t won a game since they got the bad news Sakic will be out 2-3 months following hernia surgery. Very often teams will play better than expected in the short term following the loss of a star player. They use it as a motivator to prove people wrong or steady the ship. But after a while, it becomes too much to keep playing over your head. Eventually, the talent drain kicks in, and I think that’s starting to happen a little with the Avs.
– That loss to the Kings was very predictable in some ways. A team that had lost eight in a row meets a team playing at home that thought it would be in for an easy time. I think you’ll see a more energetic team tonight in Phoenix, after being taken to the woodshed a bit Sunday by Joel Quenneville.
– How fast would an outdoor game at Invesco sell out between the Avs and Red Wings – with maybe an old-timer’s game as a warmup act? How much would you love to see Claude Lemieux, Patrick Roy and Mike Keane suit up again against Darren McCarty, Mike Vernon and Dino Ciccarelli, etc. – with Marc Crawford coaching against Scotty Bowman? I’m guessing it sells out in about 10 minutes. Make it happen, Stan Kroenke and Mayor Hickenlooper!
– I think John Liles is a terrific kid, but the Avs really do need more offense from him. I wonder if Kyle Cumiskey’s presence this year hasn’t flustered him more than he’d like to admit?
– Don’t be surprised if Chris Stewart gets a call-up soon from Lake Erie. He’s come on strong of late for the Monsters, and even though he’s still only in his first year of pro hockey and still a babe in the woods, he might get a quick look-see.
– I love the addition of Cody McLeod to the Avs lineup. The kid has grit, doesn’t take no guff from nobody and goes around making a royal pain of himself on the ice to the opposition. The Avs have lacked those kinds of guys for too long.

Happy New Year!

Adrian Dater’s latest book, “Denver Broncos: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” is available now at bookstores and at Amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

His best-selling: “Blood Feud: Detroit Red Wings v. Colorado Avalanche, The Inside Story of Pro Sports’ Nastiest and Best Rivalry of its Era” is available at the same locations.